Corporal William Herbert Brett - DCM

Born in 1883 in Bermondsey, south east London, William Brett's family had moved to 19 Ravensbury Cottages, Morden Lane, Mitcham by the time of the 1891 census. Morden Lane is now known as Morden Road, and the census shows that they lived between two pubs: the Ravensbury Tavern, which no longer exists, and the Surrey Arms, which does. His father was a constable with the Metropolitan Police.

The census of 1901 shows us that the family were now living at Nursery Road, off of Lower Green West, Mitcham. At the corner of this road was the Sunday School that had been founded in 1788, which also housed the National Day School up until 1897 when the boys transferred to the newly opened Lower Mitcham Board School at the corner of Benedict Road and Church Road, just past the parish church. This road exists today, but it is just an access road to the side of the former Sunday School, now converted to flats. In 1901, William Brett was no longer at school as, at 18 years old, he was employed as a plumber's labourer. A couple of years later he had joined the Army, in the Royal Engineers.

Although not listed as being with his family in Nursery Road on the 1911 census, he gave that as his address when he and his brother Harry became members of the Mitcham Cricket Club on 11th May 1914.

In 1915, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, as reported in the London Gazette of 30th June that year:

"12242 Sapper W.H. Brett, 9th Fld. Co., R.E. For conspicuous gallantry on the 9th April, 1915, at Givenchy, when, engaged in erecting wire entanglements in front of the trenches, after dark, he assisted in rescuing, under a heavy fire, one of the covering party who had been wounded."

He died 3rd June 1916, and is buried in the Mitcham parish churchyard, section 9 plot 21.